Google Thinking Blog

This article seems a little strange to me. I can see where they are going in that we are learning to think a little differently because of the internet, but it all seems ridiculous to me. Maybe the internet has made some people more lazy, but I still enjoy reading my books, whether I can look up the summary online or not. I really just think these people are over thinking- just enjoy the internet for what is has and be thankful we no longer have to spend days in the library looking up information.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), is a program set up by the Alabama Department of Education that helps to share and index many kinds of educational resources, which through this exchange can now become available to teachers anywhere in Alabama. The program provides things such as Web links, Courses of study, and Lesson plans. It is a really neat program that allows teachers to expand their horizons and give their students a better education.
I would love to be able to use ALEX for my own classroom. Knowing that it is a work in progress and can only continue to go on if teachers continue to add to the index of resources- I think it would be great to add my own lesson plans and be able to have availability to others. ALEX is a great program, which I hope will live on

ACCESS

ACCESS is a program that was developed by the Alabama Department of Education to aid students in the Alabama public school system, and give them the oppurtunity to participate in classes which otherwise, they would not have been able to. To do this the ACCESS system uses the internet to provide a technical infrastructure which can deliver system approved courses to students statewide. Primarily the ACCESS system is giving an oppurtunity to students to learn more and have a greater education then they would have, mostly through the use of the internet and special courses.
I think ACCESS is a great tool and will love to be able to use it in my classroom one day. As it stands now I am going to be working at a private christian school that does not have the ACCESS program, but hopefully one day that will change. I think it would be a great oppurtunity for the students in my class to get to experience studying online with a bigger group of people, and to give them greater oppurtunities to learn and expand their knowledge with more than just being inside of a classroom.